Rise of the Snow Lion
Rise of the Snow Lion 'explores the events leading to the collapse of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 2090 and the emergence of the Buddhist Republic of Tibeto-Mongolia as a major regional power in East Asia. Disclaimer 'This is a fictional portrayal of future events and is not meant to be accurate. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Overview The economic crisis of the late 2030s caused widespread social unrest throughout China. The progressive weakening of the Communist Party's hold over the military and government institutions fanned nationalistic sentiments in the border regions, which paved the way for the gradual collapse of the PRC, a process which spanned almost six decades. Hong Kong and Lingnan region Main article: Republic of Hong Kong, Former New Territories, and Lama Tsoling The [[Republic of Hong Kong (Rise of the Snow Lion)|'Republic of Hong Kong']] (Cantonese: 香港共和國), one of the earliest states to declare independence from the PRC, was established in 2047. The wave of dissent spread swiftly to the nearby province of Guangdong, which had always been a hotbed of revolution since the last days of the Qing dynasty. The provincial military garrison defected to rebel forces and the short-lived Republic of Lingnan '(Chinese: 嶺南共和國) (2047-2075) was established, with Guangzhou as its capital. East Turkestan With the military largely fragmented and incapable of maintaining order, a successive series of uprisings along the western provinces ensued. Military intervention from the neighbouring Turkic Union resulted in the secession of the Uyghur-majority region of Xinjiang from the PRC and the formation of the '''Emirate of East Turkestan '(Uyghur: شه رقىي توركىستان) in 2069. Tibet and Mongolia Main article: Buddhist Republic of Tibeto-Mongolia A referendum was held in Inner Mongolia in the same year, in which 61% of the population voted to join Mongolia to form a greater Mongolian state. The Tibetan-inhabited regions of Ü Tsang, Kham and Amdo also declared independence in 2075 and pledged allegiance to the government-in-exile in Dharamsala. The 15th Dalai Lama, Jampa Gyatso (born 2041), returned to Lhasa and was welcomed back with much ceremony. This prompted a mass exodus of Han Chinese, fearful of reprisals, from the rebel-controlled regions back into central China. Many of the Hui (Chinese Muslims) in Tibet chose instead to emigrate to East Turkestan, worried that they would not be allowed to practise their religion in a future Buddhist theocracy. In 2077, Tibet and Mongolia merged to form the 'Buddhist Republic of Tibeto-Mongolia '(Tibetan: བོད་སོག་ནང་པའི་མི་སེར་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་, Mongolian: Төвд-Монголын Бурханы шашны Бүгд Найрамдах Улс), occupying the majority of the territory previously controlled by the PRC, with the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism declared as its state religion. Tibeto-Mongolia was unusual for being the first country in the world to have two heads of state, with a democratically elected prime minister heading the temporal affairs of the country and the Dalai Lama in charge of spiritual and religious affairs, as well as two capital cities, '''Khanbaliq (Mongolian: Ханбалик, previously known as Beijing) and Lhasa '(Tibetan: ལྷ་ས་). The Government of Tibeto-Mongolia saw itself as the successor of the historical Yuan Dynasty established by Kublai Khan, which had ruled China from 1271 to 1368. Eastern Kham The eastern regions of Kham, which were home to Tibetic and Qiangic ethnic groups including the Pumi and Nakhi, had historically never been under the control of the Dalai Lama. Although most of the population practised Tibetan Buddhism, due to the widespread practice of the Dorje Shugden worship in those regions, the clergy strongly opposed joining the newly founded Tibeto-Mongolian state and initially remained loyal to the Chinese central government. However, with the imminent collapse of the Chinese state, coupled with the impending risk of invasion from Tibeto-Mongolia, local authorities declared the establishment of a separate Tibetan state known as the '''Kingdom of Jang '(Tibetan: ལྗང་རྒྱལ་ཁབ་) in 2085. Vietnam Vietnam reverted to constitutional monarchy in 2025 after the overthrow of the ruling Communist Party. The deposed Crown Prince was invited to resume his role as Emperor of Vietnam and head of the restored Nguyễn dynasty. His successor, Bảo Phước (later known as Abdullah), converted to Islam and declared Sunni Islam the official state religion of Vietnam in order to secure an alliance with the Kingdom of Java, in response to military threats along the southern border from Thailand and Cambodia. Henceforth, the official name of the country changed to '''Islamic Empire of Great Vietnam (Chữ Nôm: 帝國回教大越, Quốc ngữ: Đế Quốc Hồi Giáo Đại Việt). In 2075, the Vietnamese army crossed the northern border and annexed the Republic of Lingnan without encountering much resistance from Lingnan forces. Guangdong was renamed as Nam Việt '(南粵) and was absorbed into the Vietnamese Empire as its newest province. Within the next two years Vietnam had conquered much of Guangxi and Guizhou, which was reorganised into the province of '''Dạ Lang '(夜郎). Vietnam attempted to annex the Republic of Hong Kong in 2079, sparking the brief 'Hong Kong-Vietnamese War '(越港戰爭), but was repulsed by fierce attacks by the Hong Kong National Armed Forces, resulting in the deaths of 300 Vietnamese soldiers. In the end both sides agreed to respect the international border at Boundary Street. Taiwan Previous governments of the Republic of China (ROC) had preferred to maintain the status quo concerning the question of Taiwan's sovereignty, for fear of Chinese reprisals in case independence was declared. This changed after the 'Taiwanese Independence Coalition '(臺灣建國聯盟), formed from several political parties from the pro-independence spectrum including the Democratic Progressive Party, the Taiwanese Solidarity Union and the Taiwanese Independence Party, won the 2040 general elections. The constitution was amended with unanimous approval from the Legislative Yuan and the 'Republic of Taiwan '(臺灣民國) was declared in 2042. The new government placed great emphasis on promoting the indigenous heritage of Taiwan, including declaring Taiwanese Hokkien and Amis (the most widely spoken Austronesian language in Taiwan) as official languages. The Philippines, which had been embroiled in a civil conflict since 1969 due to conflict between government forces and Jihadist insurgency in the Muslim region of Mindanao, experienced a sudden exacerbation during the 2040s when the conflict erupted into a full-blown civil war. The government requested military intervention from the Republic of Taiwan. After a campaign that lasted for ten years (2043-2053), Taiwanese peacekeeping troops managed to eradicate all remnants of the insurgency. The Philippine archipelago was put under temporary military administration of the Taiwanese Armed Forces as a protectorate of Taiwan. It was granted provincial status in 2058 as the 'Province of Luzon '(Hokkien: 呂宋省, Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Luzon) of the Republic of Taiwan. In 2095, '''Chekiang and Hokkien joined Taiwan as the two newest provinces of the Republic. China proper Despite losing most of its territory, the Communist Party continued to control the predominantly Han regions of central China along the eastern stretch of the Yangtze River until the late 2080s. During its last years, in an attempt to improve the party's international image and credibility in the eyes of the public, the new generation of the CCP leadership introduced numerous political and economic reforms. The first democratic elections were held in 2086, in which the CCP lost by a landslide to the''' Democracy Party of China (中國民主黨), which had been banned following the 1989 protests and had been operating in exile ever since. The CCP continued to function as the major opposition party and was renamed the 'Chinese Labour Party '(中國勞動黨). A new constitution was adopted which designated China as a federal republic initially consisting of five states (Jiangnan, Jiangbei, Sichuan, Jiangsu and Minzhe), each with the right to secede from the central government. On October 1, 2090, in the capital city of Chang'an (長安, formerly known as Xi'an), the Chinese Parliament officially announced the dissolution of the People's Republic of China. The five starred Chinese flag was lowered across the nation for the last time. The '''Federal Republic of Huaxia (Chinese: 華夏聯邦共和國) was proclaimed as the de jure successor state of the PRC. The state of Minzhe (閩浙), which had strong cultural ties to Taiwan due to their shared Hokkien heritage, voted to leave the Federal Republic of Huaxia in 2095 and joined the Republic of Taiwan. It was reorganised into two separate provinces, 'Hokkien '(福建) and 'Chekiang '(浙江). Category:Rise of the Snow Lion Category:China Category:Tibet Category:Mongolia Category:Geopolitics 2090s